Technical Field
Aspects of the embodiments relate to safe disposal of sharps, and more specifically to systems, methods, and modes for automatic disposal of sharps to a secured central location via pneumatic tubing.
Background Art
Sharps waste is classified as biomedical and biohazardous waste that consist of used objects or devices that were implemented in medical care or in medical or industrial research to puncture or lacerate the skin. Sharps can be made of metal, glass, or plastic and contain sharp or rigid points, corners, edges, or protrusions that can pierce, cut, slice, or scrape the skin. Examples of sharps waste include needles, syringes with and without needles, hypodermic and tubing, acupuncture needles, suture needles, tubing with needles, scalpel blades, blood vials, exposed ends of dental wires, broken glass or capillary tubes, culture dishes and slides, lancets, pipettes, root canal files, trauma scene waste that can cut, slice or pierce, or the like. Sharps are used to treat diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and other diseases, or to obtain blood samples for research to identify diseases.
Unfortunately, used sharps are very dangerous to humans and pets as they can cause accidental needle sticks, cuts, and punctures that can cause serious health conditions, spread infections, and transmit blood-borne diseases. The most common infections include hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Consequently, used sharps must be carefully handled and immediately disposed of after use. Proper sharps disposal also helps protecting the environment.
Used sharps are commonly disposed using dedicated sharps disposal containers dispersed throughout the hospitals in rooms where sharps are utilized, such as patient rooms, emergency rooms (ER), operating rooms (OR), and phlebotomy rooms. These containers are generally made of puncture-resistant plastic and leak-resistant bottom, sides, and lid. Routinely the containers are scheduled for pick up on the floors and placed in a contaminated area at a predesignated contaminated floor enclosure. Then the containers are routinely placed in a contaminated area near the loading dock or an area near an incinerator, in a few instances. Containers picked up by a waste management company are generally brought to a predetermined U.S. Government approved location, where they are emptied, decontaminated, and returned for reuse. If the sharps are emptied into an incinerator, the emptied containers are decontaminated and reused.
From the moment sharps waste is produced, it must be handled as little as possible to reduce risk of injury. Yet, the aforementioned disposal methods require prolonged handling of sharps until they can be properly disposed. The sharps have to be placed in containers, the containers must be collected by personnel from each hospital location and transported to the designated area. Moreover, the containers are accessible to unauthorized personnel, including patients and children. They may also get overfilled and if not emptied timely may increase the risk of accidental needle-stick injury.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for systems, methods, and modes for automatic and safe disposal of sharps to a secured central location via pneumatic tubing that entails minimal amount of handling.